


Savour the Good Things

by shadowycat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Post - Deathly Hallows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-11
Updated: 2014-01-11
Packaged: 2018-01-08 08:54:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1130668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowycat/pseuds/shadowycat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Minerva wrestles with a problem; Severus offers his advice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Savour the Good Things

**Author's Note:**

> This piece was created for the LJ holiday community Mini Fest. It was written in response to the prompt: Minerva/Severus -- the first Christmas after DH (Snape alive or a ghost or a portrait).
> 
> The drawing that accompanies the story was done in pencil.

Minerva set down her quill and rubbed at her temple where an all too familiar pain was building. The walls of the finely appointed room where she sat felt as if they were closing in on her. Though perhaps some of that feeling, she mused to herself, came from occupying a room which would never feel as if it was hers if she lived in it for a hundred years. However, comfortable or not, traditionally this was the bedroom of the Headmaster or Headmistress and that role, along with its myriad responsibilities, was now hers to bear.

“It’s Christmas Eve, Minerva. Can’t you put whatever it is you’re working on away for a little while? Even I can see you’re giving yourself a headache.”

Minerva turned away from the writing desk. “I didn’t hear you come in, Severus.”

“Of course not. I’ve always been light on my feet.” 

Despite herself, Minerva smiled at the familiar, faintly mocking tone of her friend.

“I wish I could, but I really need to get this end of year report finished and ready to submit to the Board of Governors. Somehow I need to find a way to convince them to give us a bit more money and help. Rebuilding the school properly has cost more than I ever thought it would. The damage was so much more extensive than it seemed to be at first.”

“That’s not surprising. The fighting was spread throughout the castle and all across the grounds and neither side gave quarter. Damage was inevitable. You’ll probably be finding more of it for some time to come.”

“Yes. That’s what I’m afraid of.” She sighed. “After the fighting was over, people pitched in to get the school ready for occupancy again and most of the obvious damage was repaired quite quickly. Everyone assumed that would be the end of it, and we could concentrate on burying our dead and healing everyone’s physical and psychological wounds.”

“But that hasn’t been the end of it?”

“Unfortunately not. No one really understood how much the conflict had damaged the underlying magical structure of the castle. The ceiling in the Great Hall still isn’t functioning as it did before and the staircases aren’t either. They keep stranding groups of students and staff in mid air, and they make the most appalling grinding noises now, but that’s not the worst of it.”

“What else is wrong?”

She shuddered. “The room of requirement is still ablaze. Oh, it changes properly, but no matter what anyone needs the room to become, when it appears, it’s full of flames. No one can enter. We have to find some way to get the fire under control soon or it’ll continue to erode the magical foundation of the castle.”

“I assume it’s not responding to the usual magical fire quenching spells.”

“No, not even flooding the room seems to work. The fire will appear to be doused, but when the room is reopened, it’s aflame again. It’s been most frustrating.”

“You’ll find a way to deal with it, but there’s no sense in giving yourself headaches over it.”

“I’m the Headmistress now, no one else can do this for me, and the meeting is only a few days away.” Her voice sounded peevish even to herself.

“Minerva, you need to step back and take a breath sometimes otherwise your responsibilities will overwhelm you, and you’ll be of no use to anyone. The problems will still be there when you return to them, but you’ll be better able to attack them after a bit of rest. Trust me; I know what I’m talking about.”

Her heart filled with a quiet sadness. “Yes, I suppose you would.”

After a brief pause full of silent commiseration, Severus said, “What you need is a stiff drink.”

Minerva smiled at the last person saddled with the cares of Hogwarts. “Will that help?”

“It can’t hurt. You taught me that.” He smiled warmly in return.

“I suppose I did,” she said as she rose to her feet and crossed the room to a sideboard where a cut-glass decanter full of deep amber liquid stood beside two glasses. She poured and took a sip, letting the fiery liquid slip down her throat. She could feel the tight, cramped muscles in her neck and temple began to ease immediately.

In the distance, she began to hear the soft chiming of bells. Crossing the room to a pair of French doors, she threw them open and stepped out onto a small balcony. The sound of ringing bells was louder here in the frosty air. A light snow fell gently from hazy clouds and the world outside the castle seemed wrapped in cotton, soft and clean, and beautiful to see.

She shivered and wrapped her robe more snugly around her as she took another sip from her glass. The lights of Hogsmeade glimmered in the distance, and the night felt peaceful and silent. She took in a deep breath of cold air and released it slowly, sending a bit of her warmth out into the darkness.

“It’s Christmas,” she murmured softly.

“Time to savour the good things in life rather than dwell on the bad. Isn’t that what Albus always said?” Severus’s voice drifted over her shoulder. “Of course, he also advocated the wearing of absurd paper hats and eating yourself into a stupor.”

She turned back into the room with a laugh. “He always did love those Christmas crackers. No matter how ridiculous their contents were, he’d always put them on.”

“It amused you.”

“More than it did you as I recall.”

“I had no objection to watching him make a fool of himself. It was his insistence on inflicting it on the rest of us that I objected to.” Severus smirked. “I don’t recall that you spent much time wearing any of the hats that he continually pulled out and shoved your way.”

“No, like you, I always thought them... frivolous.”

“Damned silly would be more accurate. Will you have Crackers at dinner tomorrow... or, I suppose I should say today?”

“I wasn’t going to, but... maybe I will at that. I’m sure the House-Elves have some hidden away.” She sighed. “Possibly I have let all the burdens of my new office weigh me down too much.”

“It’s very easy to do,” he acknowledged.

They exchanged sympathetic smiles.

“I think you’re right. I do need to take a break from responsibility and relax a bit.”

“You still have time before the meeting. A short break will give you a chance to regroup and approach your troubles with renewed energy. There’s no point in working yourself to exhaustion. It never helps, believe me.”

She held up her glass in a salute. “Happy Christmas, Severus! May the coming year be a better one for all of us.”

“It can hardly be worse...” he murmured as he drank along with her. 

Once he lowered his glass, she asked, “How’s the whisky?”

“Tastes a bit like paint thinner if you must know, but it gets the job done.”

“Hmmm... perhaps there’s a charm that might help with that. I’ll consult with Filius tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Minerva, I’d be eternally in your debt.”

[  
Savour the Good Things](https://shadowycat.deviantart.com/art/Savour-the-Good-Things-428943806) by [shadowycat](https://shadowycat.deviantart.com/) on [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com)


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